TRAVEL DIARY: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – Abu Dhabi

“Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque”

I told you in my previous post, there is a lot more coming and here it is! One of the most beautiful and memorable places I’ve visited while I was in Abu Dhabi was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The biggest mosque in the United Arab Emirates and the eight largest mosque in the world. Impressive right? It was named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founder and the first president of the UAE. It took almost 12 years to build this beauty. You should understand that I was dazzled when I saw this massive, white colored building. Actually this is the second time that I’ve visited a mosque. This short trip to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was definitely one of my highlights of this trip.

This architectual jewel features 82 domes, over a 1000 columns, 24 carat gold gilded chandeliers and the world’s largest hand knotted carpet. Off course there is strict dress code when it comes to visiting a mosque: women need to cover their hair and body but you can also lend a “abaya” if your current outfit doesn’t obey the rules. No shorts or short skirts! One of the things which stayed with me was walking barefoot inside the mosque, you experience every feeling and the beauty of it in a different way. More intense. You should know I’m not a person who likes to take of their shoes, call it a personal tap! If you have a weak heart for gold, marmer and flower motives you should definitely visit this holy place. It’s a work of art. I’m glad to share this experience with you guys, I always think traveling is the best way to explore other cultures and countries and to understand each other.

The most important thing about traveling: you learn a lot. From yourself, and from each other.